HiLO Lens - Creative Angle for iPhone & iPad Photography

$38,252

554

The Backers of the HiLO Lens are the hero(in)es of this story! Our Backers saw the potential for a new perspective in mobile photography, they are visionaries and we salute them all!!

A Last Stretch - We Did It!!

We reached our Stretch Goal of $37,500 with just 4 hours to go! So there will be a voice activated shutter option in our app. This is VERY cool, you can use HiLO Lens like a tripod and then tell the app when to take a photo!!

All About HiLO Lens

Modern digital cameras often have a swivel/flip screen, HiLO Lens extends your iPhone camera or iPad camera in a similar way. HiLO Lens is the first right angle lens for the iPhone4/4S/5 & iPad3. With this simple device you'll create more memorable photos.

The prototype is demonstrated in our video with the iPhone4. We have tested HiLO Lens with the iPhone5 and will make some minor improvements to get the best results on iPhone5, while still supporting iPhone4/4S.

Andrew B White is a pro iPhoneographer, here is what he had to say about the HiLO Lens "...once you get your hands on one and start using it the opportunities for some very cool shots become clear. It is the sort of thing that makes you want to get out and shoot, just to see what you are going to find!” More details here.

What's Inside?

HiLO Lens is full of custom designed optics, made with three lenses and a prism. The optics keep HiLO Lens tiny and can capture the same field of view (FOV) as the iPhone camera.

There is also an app, which will be available for free. The app corrects for the mirroring of the image (caused by the prism) and improves image quality with some smart processing. The app provides an optional shutter delay, so you can get self/group portraits when using HiLO Lens as a tripod.

Why complex optics instead of a mirror ? Because to cover the iPhone camera's field of view a mirror would be large and ugly. HiLO Lens is small, elegant and maintains the camera's full field of view. Be aware that products using only a mirror may only be useful for video.

Image Quality With HiLO Lens

The optics in HiLO Lens are more sophisticated than any other lens available for the iPhone. Optics are always a compromise and we want to keep HiLO Lens affordable. To give you an idea, the aluminium container housing the optics is machined to tolerances of 0.01mm - that's 1/10th the thickness of a strand of hair!

Who Created HiLO?

HiLO Lens is developed by an optical engineer (Alexander), mechanical designer (Onur), app developer (Nguyen) and led by Mark Hampton. The project began in mid 2011.

Mark invented HiLO Lens with Kickstarter in mind because crowdfunding is seriously cool. Mark's previous projects include a startup that created a new category of microelectronics design software (Certess Inc.) and an e-commerce for French expats.

Where Are We At?

We've minimized the technical risks, getting HiLO Lens from idea to final prototype. We're just about ready to hit the production button. Currently we have:

validated the optics design with pre-production samples

a fully functional app

working prototypes being used by iPhoneographers

production partners on board and ready to build

To make HiLO Lens affordable we need to make at least 1000 units and this is where Kickstarter comes in. The setup costs for manufacturing can be funded with the first 1000 units.

We are also making some minor improvements to the design so HiLO Lens will work perfectly with the iPhone5. The current design does work with the iPhone5 but we can improve it so we will improve it!

When Will We Be Shipping ?

HiLO Lens uses custom designed optical components, not off the shelf parts. Therefore it will take a couple of months to grind, polish and treat the lenses with anti-reflective coatings. In parallel another production partner will be machining the precision aluminium containers. Yet another partner will be tooling for producing the plastic cap.

While the initial production run is being completed our app developer, Nguyen, will be finalizing the app, making it faster, more beautiful and even more fun.

We expect to have the first product ready approximately 12 weeks after successful funding.

Funding Goal

We set our funding goal as low as possible given our resources. We would love to see HiLO Lens become a product. With Kickstarter it is all or nothing - no funding if we don't reach our target.

If we exceed our funding goal there is a long list of features we would love to include. Starting with more of your suggestions in the app.

Technical Compromises

Every product has compromises. Our priority is to provide good quality images and a practical device. We use digital image processing in the app to correct for geometrical distortion in the optics. This innovation allows us to minimize the size of HiLO Lens. If you use HiLO Lens with another camera app then you will see severe vignetting in the corners of the raw photo. You can either consider this a feature or post-process the image in the HiLO Lens app. During post-processing the image will be "unfolded" to correct for geometric distortion and the vignetting is far less noticeable.

Any lens added to the iPhone camera will reduce the optical quality of the final image. This is because the lens is always added to the existing stack of lenses in the iPhone itself. This is most noticeable in low light conditions.

Grease and dirt should be removed from the tacky pad using a lint free, damp cloth, with a little bit of soap to help get rid of oil or grease. Let the pad air dry and it will return to it's tacky state. You should not submerse the lens in water!

We believe HiLO Lens offers great value by allowing you to get creative camera angles more easily. But you can always add a straight-on wide angle lens or simply use the native camera and lie on the ground, buy a tripod and carry a ladder :)

Why You'll Love HiLO Lens

$60 is a bargain for high quality optics.

Carrying a HiLO Lens everywhere is easier than carrying a step ladder.

You'll save a fortune in dry cleaning bills because you'll no longer need to lie on the ground in your dress or tuxedo to get the most memorable shot of everyone jumping in celebration at your best friend's wedding.

No more embarrassing moments with a tripod in your pocket.

The best photos of your pet = priceless

Amazing shots of your child = priceless

Thanks!

Risks and challenges

We've been working on this project for 18 months and were hoping to launch the Kickstarter campaign for HiLO Lens 6 months ago. But we wanted to minimize the risk for backers and be confident that we could deliver a great product. The challenges we overcome were mainly related to manufacturing issues with the optics system. It can take months to get lenses custom made.

We have accurate pricing information from all key suppliers. Because the initial production run will be low volume our costs are relatively high. The production price would nearly halve if we could make 10,000 instead of 1,000 units. So the biggest risk is making sure that the components meet our quality criteria because we do not have a lot of margin to pay for parts to be remade.

OK, if you are still drinking our kool-aid, please go back up to the top of the page and pledge :) Thanks!

We have not tried it with an iPad mini yet. But the images on Apples website show that there is a nice flat, smooth surface around the camera window so we expect it to fit. The rear camera is 5MP and similar to other iSight cameras (the same F stop) so we expect HilO Lens to work just fine.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $60 or more
About $60

Thank you! You'll receive one of the first HiLO Lens. HiLO Lens will retail for about 33% more! Includes the option to be immortalized on our website. If you share the international shipping address with another backer then only pay one shipping fee.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $65 or more
About $65

HiLO Lens for a bargain price and the cap in KICKSTARTER GREEN - this is once in a lifetime offer :) High angle, low angle, wide angle, now it's your angle. Includes the option to be immortalized on our website. If you share the international shipping address with another backer then only pay one shipping fee.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $70 or more
About $70

HiLO Lens with an adaptor to fit the curved back of iPad3. Never again look ridiculous taking photos/videos with iPad3 - shoot from the hip! Depending on demand the parts may be 3D printed or injection molded. Includes the option to be immortalized on our website. If you share the international shipping address with another backer then only pay one shipping fee.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $75 or more
About $75

HiLO Lens with an adaptor to fit the curved back of iPad3 and the cap in KICKSTARTER GREEN. Depending on demand the parts may be 3D printed or injection molded. Includes the option to be immortalized on our website. If you share the international shipping address with another backer then only pay one shipping fee.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $111 or more
About $111

Wow, you just pledged extra $!!! That's amazing, you're amazing. If you'd like to chat about anything then we're listening - we could discuss our project or your project. Choose between HiLO Lens or HiLO Lens for iPad3 (with or without the KICKSTARTER GREEN cap). We'll also send you a postcard from Middle-earth. Shipping of your postcard (and HiLO Lens) is included!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $333 or more
About $333

Receive a HiLO Lens with a unique finish e.g. laser engraving - we will work for you to design something that is one of it's kind. You will see a 3D rendering of the design before we ship HiLO Lens to you. You can get as involved in the design process as you like!!